NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies

What to expect

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies is for people aged 17 and over who are experiencing depression, anxiety disorders and other common mental health challenges including:

• generalised anxiety disorder (GAD);
• social anxiety;
• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
• health anxiety;
• panic;
• phobias;
• obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD);
• stress;
• low confidence or self-esteem issues;
• sleep disturbance.

The service also works with people with long term physical health conditions (LTCs) including coronary heart disease (CHD), respiratory problems, chronic pain and diabetes. You do not need a diagnosis to access the service.

To find out more about the Talking Therapies service and to see if it is suitable for you, visit the website.

You can either refer yourself to this service by completing an online form (please provide as much information as possible) or by asking your GP or other healthcare professional to refer you (see below for information for professionals). If you have any problems completing the form call 0300 300 0055.

After referral, you will be offered an initial assessment that can take up to an hour either online, in person or over the telephone. After this you may be offered a series of online or in person talking therapy sessions, varying in length from around 35 minutes to one hour, depending on the type of treatment that is offered to you. The total number of sessions will depend on your needs, however this is a short term therapy service that doesn't offer long term or open-ended therapy. You may also be offered the opportunity to attend wellbeing workshops whilst you wait for one-to-one talking therapy - many people find the skills and techniques they learn in these workshops are enough to support them without needing to progress to one-to-one sessions. If talking therapy isn't suitable, you may be referred to other mental health services.

The main treatment offered is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and your suitability for this approach will be determined in the initial assessment. You can read more about the range of treatments that are available on this link.

Often people facing mental health challenges also struggle with employment. In partnership with Waythrough you may be offered employment support alongside NHS Talking Therapies to support you to stay in work or to seek employment.

More information

The NHS CPFT Talking Therapies website also has self-help videos and resources that you may find useful.

For Older Adults

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Talking Therapies has no upper age limit and welcomes self-referrals from people aged 65 and over. For more information, take a look on this link.

For Professionals

A professional referral form and service information is available on this link.

This service is free.